Ku Klux Klan

An organization that erupted in the South. It began in 1866 in Tennessee. The KKK consisted of a variety of secret vigilante actions and paramilitary outfits. Similar groups emerged throughout the South, as well as The Knights of the White Camellia and The White Brotherhood. Hahn argues that in many cases the Klan came to be the general label for any vigilante band that operated in disguise and secrecy.

Klans were found in white and black majority districts. They were organized by a variety of individuals and were sometimes local. Sometimes they were hooked into larger networks. Hahn argues that there was a great deal of differences from one group to the next. It was generally attractive to young, white men who had served in the Confederate army and was widely viewed as a new version of the old slave patrol system.